hipsterplot is a Python library for plotting 2-D line chart using ASCII characters only. The following example code would plot a 2 cycles of sine wave, modified from its source code:


import math
from hipsterplot import plot

ys = [math.sin(2*math.pi*x*2/50.0) for x in xrange(100)]
num_x_chars = min(50, len(ys))
plot(ys, num_x_chars=num_x_chars, num_y_chars=15)

xs = [50*random.random() for x in xrange(100)]
ys = [math.sin(2*math.pi*x*2/50.0) for x in xs]
num_x_chars = min(50, len(ys))
plot(ys, x_vals=xs, num_x_chars=num_x_chars, num_y_chars=15)

k = 20
ys = [random.gauss(0, 0.5) + math.sin(2*math.pi*x*2/50.0/k) \
      for x in xrange(50*k)]
num_x_chars = min(50, len(ys))
plot(ys, num_x_chars=num_x_chars, num_y_chars=25)

The plotted charts in ASCII:


 0.9315      ....                     ....
 0.7984     .    .                   .    .
 0.6654    .                        .
 0.5323   .       .                .       .
 0.3992            .                        .
 0.2661  .                        .
 0.1331             .                        .
-0.0000 .                        .
-0.1331              .                        .
-0.2661                         .                        .
-0.3992               .                        .
-0.5323                .       .                .       .
-0.6654                       .                        .
-0.7984                 .    .                   .    .
-0.9315                  ....                     ....
 0.9333    .||.                      || :
 0.8000         :                   .    #
 0.6667   |      .                  .     :
 0.5334          |                 .       .
 0.4001 .         .               |
 0.2667 :          |              .         :
 0.1334 .          .
 0.0001             .            .           .
-0.1332             .           |            .           .
-0.2665              .         .              .          :
-0.3999              .
-0.5332
-0.6665               .       :                 :      .
-0.7998                |     |                        |
-0.9331                  |.|                      ::.:
 2.2507        .                       .
 2.0606    .   ..
 1.8706        :                        . .
 1.6805    : .|  .:                   .:.. ..
 1.4904   ..:.: : .                   ::.: |.
 1.3003  .::||.|::                  ..  |:#::
 1.1102  ..:|| ||:|               .  ::|:|:|#.
 0.9201 . .:|.##:::::..          ...::|.||. ..
 0.7300 . ::.|:.###|.            :.|#:|:|.#|:::
 0.5400  :#|#|:.:::||.           ..||#::::..||::
 0.3499 ||:|: : : .:# ..         |: |.||. .|.|#. |. .    .
 0.1598 |#|.  :  : |:||:. .    |||||:..:.| ..:|:: .   .. :
-0.0303 :..  .   ...||..:..  . .::.:.|: . :. ..#.::.    .
-0.2204 |..  .   .:.:|||:.  |..:. :|        .|..|.||.. .|.
-0.4105 ::         . #... :: :|..:...:       | #||.:|#:|..
-0.6006 .:         .. .#.|..|::| . :.           |::#:..:.|
-0.7906 :            :|:|||:.|:|::|            :#|:..:||#|
-0.9807               .:##|#||#||:            .  |:::|.|:.
-1.1708               ..:|.||:# .             .   :.|:|.||
-1.3609               .  ::.:...: :           .   :.::|: :
-1.5510                   ||.| .:                   .:.
-1.7411                 . . .   .                  .... .
-1.9312                   ..                      . . . .
-2.1213                     .
-2.3113                                                 .

It’s a very simple library, only 123 lines, including license text and the example code. Only one plotting function, that is plot.

This library isn’t alone in ASCII kingdom, not long ago, I found a library called DRAWILLE and it can even render xkcd comics using Braille.

hipsterplot is written by Ian Horn, licensed under the MIT License, for both Python 2 and 3 with separate scripts.